The aughts was a strange era for everyone. America finally filled that hammer-and-sickle-size hole in its heart with turbans and beards. High schoolers went from wearing JNCO denim tents to hermetically sealed Jeggings. And someone declared war on Christmas. Youth Group: Coming of age in the church of Christian nationalism follows the life of a missionary kid as he traverses the bizarre world of anti-masturbation purity groups, CD immolation parties, the culture wars, and an occasional exorcism. Author Lance Aksamit explores how and why the Evangelical church didn’t simply jump into bed with but became Christian Nationalists.